First Thoughts: GOP goes off the image cliff — NBC/WSJ poll: GOP already goes off one cliff — the image cliff... American public: We want compromise... But this also presents dilemma for White House: Does it bend over backwards to achieve compromise, or does it try to make the GOP cry …

Durbin: Medicare Age Off Table at White House — WASHINGTON—A top Senate Democrat said he was told that President Barack Obama is no longer open to an increase in the Medicare eligibility age as part of a broader deficit-reduction agreement with Republicans.

Where big GOP bucks could matter — Mitt Romney and the GOP lost, but it wasn't for lack of money. They spent a lot; they just didn't get enough bang for the buck. — Billionaire Sheldon Adelson alone donated $150 million. But Romney lost anyway, especially among unmarried women.

Petition to Build Death Star Gaining Steam — On the White House's website there is a “We The People” section, which allows citizens to “petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country.” If any submitted petition gets 25,000 E-signatures …

‘The a—hole factor’ — Back-bench freshmen Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp and David Schweikert are gaining martyr status among conservative activists after they were “purged” from House committees for what they say is a matter of sticking to their principles on tough votes.

N. Joseph Woodland, Inventor of the Bar Code, Dies at 91 — N. Joseph Woodland, who six decades ago drew a set of lines in the sand and in the process conceived the modern bar code, died on Sunday at his home in Edgewater, N.J. He was 91. — His daughter Susan Woodland confirmed the death.

U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens — Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.

House GOP Boosts Funds for DOMA Legal Defense — House Republicans quietly have raised the value of a contract with a private law firm that is handling the chamber's Supreme Court defense of a 1996 federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Joe Lieberman's sad send-off — It was a lonely farewell for Joe Lieberman. — When the senior senator from Connecticut stood to give his parting address Wednesday afternoon, just one of his colleagues, Delaware Democrat Tom Carper, was with him on the Senate floor.

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